Five years into the TFSA program, the Financial Post wants to know who has bragging rights to the richest account. Dozens of readers have emailed us with how they accumulated wealth in their tax free savings accounts. Here’s one of their stories

Penny stocks can mean dollar gains, albeit with some major risks.

That’s the route Trevor, as the 30-year Calgary engineer is known to friends, took to have his tax-free savings account skyrocket to $47,319 since it was first opened in 2009.

“Looking back, I’m not sure I would do it again the same way,” laughs Trevor, about his account which has a balance probably in the upper echelon of TFSAs in Canada.

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Theoretically, he could have $62,981 if you add back the $8,050 money he took out — he got married — and maxed out his contributions. He hasn’t even made a contribution this year yet he’s well above the $25,500 lifetime limit a Canadian would have if they maxed out their TFSA every year and did nothing in the account.

So how did he do it?

“I stuck with what I know,” said Trevor, who looked high and low for some oil and gas plays with lots of upside with one caveat. He won’t bet on his own company for ethical reasons but also because he doesn’t want to put too many eggs in one basket.

Trevor started out a bit aggressive taking his initial contribution of $4,788 in 2009 and splitting it almost in half between Crescent Point Energy and Yamana Gold. He did OK on Yamana, making a few hundred bucks but on his last of many trades of Crescent, the stock was 50% above his book value.

He took his profits and got even more aggressive, pouring the money into smaller mining and oil and gas exploration plays.

“I was riding a hot sector,” says Trevor. “Looking back I think yikes! I dabbled a bit in precious metals but that’s not my forte.”

His biggest bet came in 2011 when he took the entire amount in his TFSA and rolled it into a company called Invicta Energry Corp. “A little bit of that,” says Trevor, when asked whether he felt like he was playing with the house’s money at this point.

Trevor had 66,000 shares of Invicta Energy at 14.5¢ a share at the year end of 2011 and by the end of 2012 those shares were worth 27¢ each.

“I thought they were in a good area with profitable production and I thought that area of southwest Saskatchewan was undervalued,” said Trevor, said about Invicta’s energy holdings.

He hit a gusher. The company was taken out by Whitecap Resources Inc. at 51.91¢ cents per share this year. Trevor got some shares in Whitecap too as part of the takeover but cashed out his whole position and spread his holdings around, back into more junior oil and gas plays.

It all hasn’t come up roses. He bought 4,000 shares of a company called Torc Oil & Gas for $1.61 a share. As of May 31, it was trading at $1.38 “with no bottom” in sight, says Trevor.

But he’s sticking with oil and gas, the sector he knows through engineering work. “I’m trying to diversify a bit within that sector,” said Trevor.

Trevor’s holdings as of May 31, 2013

Coast Energy Co. 300 shares

Donnycreek Energy Inc. 1750 shares

DeeThree Exploration Inc. 500 shares

Ithaca Energy Inc. 1750 shares

Manitok Energy Inc. 1750 shares

Palliser Oil & Gas Corp. 10,000 shares

Parex Resources Inc. 1,500 shares

Strategic Oil & Gas Ltd. 3,000 shares

Torc Oil & Gas Ltd. 4,000 shares

Yoho Resources Ltd. 2,000 shares

Do you have a TFSA story? Email Garry Marr with it at gmarr@nationalpost.com. We don’t necessarily have to publish your name, as long as you give us a glimpse of your statement.twitter.com/dustywallet

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